Interactive container of development components and solutions

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and software for providing or utilizing a software solutions bag of development components and enterprise knowledge—whether developed internally or by third parties—are described herein. One method for managing reusable development components comprises providing a catalog of a plurality of development components to a user. The cataloged development components may include or reference at least a first development component of a first type and a second development component of a second type. A software solutions bag is then generated based on a user selection of at least one of the cataloged development components.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to computer systems and methods and, moreparticularly, to methods, systems, and software for providing orutilizing a software solutions bag of development components.

BACKGROUND

The amount of information in organizations is increasing exponentially.Much of this information is unstructured because complex, heterogeneoussystems typically crowd the typical IT landscape such as, for example,applications or components of applications, documents on department fileservers, web pages on subsidiary web servers, e-mail, groupware, slidepresentations, and many others. These unstructured and unmanagedresources often contain mission-critical knowledge that companies needto maximize business advantage. In some situations, an enterprise portalmay be used to provide a point of access to these applications,information, and services for employees and to transform thatinformation into organizational knowledge. But these portals are oftenrather simple and merely provide one access point to underlyingcomplexity. Moreover, customers and partners typically have a difficulttime finding and understanding components that can be reused whencreating new solutions. This difficulty may be increased becausedevelopment components are frequently located in different repositories,are hard to find, are difficult to understand once found, and may becomplicated to reuse when possible.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides various embodiments of systems, methods, andsoftware for providing or utilizing a software solutions bag ofdevelopment components and other enterprise knowledge. These developmentcomponents are typically (but not necessarily) offered to a plurality ofparties, via a storefront or other easy-to-use interface, who may thenuse such components for any suitable purpose. Methods, systems, andsoftware for providing or utilizing a software solutions bag ofdevelopment components—whether developed internally or by thirdparties—are described herein. For example, one method for managingreusable development components comprises providing a catalog of aplurality of development components to a user. The cataloged developmentcomponents may include or reference at least a first developmentcomponent of a first type and a second development component of a secondtype. A software solutions bag is then generated based on a userselection of at least one of the cataloged development components. Insome cases, the software solutions bag can be logically linked with afirst third party application via a first channel and logically linkedwith a second third party application via a second channel.

The foregoing example method—as well as other disclosed methods—may becomputer implementable. Moreover some or all of these aspects may befurther included in respective systems and software involving thesoftware solutions bag of development components and other enterpriseknowledge. The details of these and other aspects and embodiments of thedisclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, objects, and advantages of thevarious embodiments will be apparent from the description and drawings,as well as from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for processing user context inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed example of component managerimplementing certain techniques and components in accordance with oneembodiment of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example business application communicably coupledwith (or part of) the example component manager of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A-K illustrate example graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for userregistration as implemented by the application described in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for processing userregistration into the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for presenting aplurality of development components, potentially from a variety ofcontent developers, using the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7A-B are flowcharts illustrating example methods for processinguser customizations and requests using the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8A-B are flowcharts illustrating example methods for publishingcomponents into the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for versioningcomponents imported, loaded, or otherwise published into the system ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for managingmetrics associated with the development components presented, selected,or otherwise managed in the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 for presenting, providing, orotherwise managing enterprise application content and other developmentcomponents 140 via a content provider 101. For example, content provider101 may be considered a storefront or retailer of business content andsolutions. The storefront is an aggregated place for businesses 108 andusers to evaluate and consume a number of different reusable components140 for development, redevelopment, customization, or easy utilizationof applications. This storefront can typically be accessed in a standalone fashion (such as a website), within any suitable productivity tool(whether enterprise software, email application, and others) selected bythe user or automatically interfaced, or in a cooperative fashion with athird party search engine. In other words, content provider 101 maymanage and share a knowledge base of software assets or otherdevelopment components 140 (often using metadata) that can easily beintegrated into different developer, business analyst, andadministrative tools. The value of this knowledge base normally growswith the usage of its customers and partners resulting in the continuousgrowth of the respective ecosystem. Generally, the content provider 101uses a component manager 130, or other similar information hub ofenterprise knowledge and components, to present a plurality ofdevelopment components 140 to businesses 108, or their individual users,as well as other companies and users in the network. But, this componentmanager 130 may also be implemented by a stand-alone enterprise to helpit leverage the existing development base of business processes andcomponents 140 and how changing them would impact its applicationlandscape. In this situation, the interface or associated components 140may be shared by or individualized/tailored for particular departments.In fact, the storefront may be a source for both internal and externalcontent, with the same or different interfaces and utilities. Thesedevelopment components may be gathered from a plurality of componentdevelopers 106 for easy review at component manager 130, which may belocated or managed by content provider 101. For example, the contentprovider 101 may be one of the manufacturers of these developmentcomponents 140, as well as the retailer of business content/solutions.This component manager 130 may, among other things, hide the complexityassociated with finding and understanding reusable components, providethe storefront experience that enables the particular user to find andlearn about the items they desire, or create a community around eachitem that contributes to the information and knowledge shared.

More specifically, component manager 130 may allow developers (or othersuitable end users) to interact, share, get acknowledgement, as well asgain confidence that they are not alone in what they are doing. Inanother example, component manager 130 can deliver solutions that helpenable customers to assess and access analytics that are relevant forthem. To facilitate this delivery, component manager 130 may provide aneasy to use product catalog of development components 140 that becomesever more useful as the number of analytics offered by componentprovider 101 and its partners increases. Put another way, thesedevelopment components are typically reusable in that they can be usedin multiple solutions or versions of redeveloped solutions. This reusemay be furthered through the ability to easily find, understand, andadapt desired components. In yet another example, component manager 130may be used to provide guidance on how to implement certain solutions.In certain cases, component manager 130 helps drive grass root adoptionand hide complexity of multiple repositories and tools, thereby allowingeasier data and component access and helping create an enjoyablecustomer experience and effective consumption of these components. Forexample, it may allow the user to implement real time synchronizationwith the most updated components versions, bug reports, and fixes for awide variety of components 140.

In some cases, the component manager 130 is a hosted solution on aremote server 102 providing an easy-to-use interface for disparatedevelopment components 140 to at least one business 108 or user,potentially without requiring specific technical or data-specificknowledge. System 100 is typically a distributed client/server systemthat spans one or more networks such as 112. In such cases, the variouscomponents—such as servers 102 and clients 104—may communicate via avirtual private network (VPN), SSH (Secure Shell) tunnel, or othersecure network connection. Accordingly, rather than being delivered aspackaged software, system 100 may represent a hosted solution, either byor for content provider 101, that may scale cost-effectively and helpdrive faster adoption. In this case, portions of the hosted solution maybe developed by a first entity, while other components are developed bya second entity. In such embodiments, data may be communicated or storedin an encrypted format using any standard or proprietary encryptionalgorithm. This encrypted communication may be between the user (orapplication/client) and the host or amongst various components of thehost. Put simply, communication or other transmission between anymodules and/or components may include any encryption, export,translation or data massage, compression, and so forth as appropriate.Further, system 100 may store some data at a relatively central location(over a WAN) while concurrently maintaining local data at the user'ssite for redundancy and to allow processing during downtime. But system100 may be in a dedicated enterprise environment—across a local areanetwork (over LAN) or subnet—or any other suitable environment withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure.

Turning to the illustrated embodiment, system 100 includes or iscommunicably coupled (such as via a one-, bi- or multi-directional linkor network) with server 102, one or more clients 104, one or morecontent developers (or vendors) 106, one or more businesses 108, atleast some of which communicating across network 112. Server 102comprises an electronic computing device operable to receive, transmit,process and store data associated with system 100. Generally, FIG. 1provides merely one example of computers that may be used with thedisclosure. Each computer is generally intended to encompass anysuitable processing device. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates oneserver 102 that may be used with the disclosure, system 100 can beimplemented using computers other than servers, as well as a serverpool. Indeed, server 102 may be any computer or processing device suchas, for example, a blade server, general-purpose personal computer (PC),Macintosh, workstation, Unix-based computer, or any other suitabledevice. In other words, the present disclosure contemplates computersother than general purpose computers as well as computers withoutconventional operating systems. Server 102 may be adapted to execute anyoperating system including Linux, UNIX, Windows Server, or any othersuitable operating system. According to one embodiment, server 102 mayalso include or be communicably coupled with a web server and/or a mailserver.

Illustrated server 102 includes local memory 120. Memory 120 may includeany memory or database module and may take the form of volatile ornon-volatile memory including, without limitation, magnetic media,optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),removable media, or any other suitable local or remote memory component.Illustrated memory 120 includes development components 140 but may alsoinclude any other appropriate data such as VPN applications or services,firewall policies, a security or access log, print or other reportingfiles, HTML files or templates, data classes or object interfaces, childsoftware applications or sub-systems, and others.

Development components 140 include software at any appropriate level ofgranularity that may be reusable by users, perhaps across businesses,user types, and platforms. These components 140 may be developmentassets that are developed by multiple developers (such as contentprovider 101 and content developer 106). More specifically, suchdevelopment components 140 may include (among other things) industryapplications, analytics, reusable components, objects, collaborativesoftware and pages, request for comments (RFC) documents, relationships,processes, views, models, dashboards, and other business content(whether primary, secondary, or other), solutions, or identifiableportion thereof. For example, a first development component 140 may be awarehouse delivery dashboard created by a first content developer 106, asecond development component 140 may be a view of common warehouse dataobjects created by a second content developer 106, a third developmentcomponent 140 may be a canned inventory report developed by the firstcontent developer 106, a fourth development component 140 may be a webservice for tracking such inventory, while a fifth development component140 may be an enterprise software application—developed exclusively forthe requesting user or customized to meet his requests by contentprovider 101—operable to manage some of the former components 140. Inanother example, a development component 140 may be an automated alert(event) that can be automatically sent to a recruiting manager each timea candidate declines an offer based on the manager's subscriptionpreferences. Regardless of the particular type, category, orclassification of the component, system 100 often stores metadata andother identifying information along with the actual piece of software(whether object or source). For example, the component may furtherinclude each element's definition, lifecycle history, dependents,dependencies, versions, use or “big name” cases, industry types orassociations, role types, security profile, and usage information.

Development components 140 (and their accompanying information) may bestored in one or more logical or physical repositories. In someembodiments, development components 140 (or pointers thereto) may bestored in one or more tables in a relational database described in termsof SQL statements or scripts. In the same or other embodiments,development components 140 may also be formatted, stored, or defined asvarious data structures in text files, eXtensible Markup Language (XML)documents, Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) files, flat files,Btrieve files, comma-separated-value (CSV) files, internal variables, orone or more libraries. For example, a particular development componentrecord may merely be a pointer to a particular piece of third partysoftware stored remotely. In another example, a particular developmentcomponent may be an internally stored software object usable byauthenticated customers or internal development. In short, developmentcomponents 140 may comprise one table or file or a plurality of tablesor files stored on one computer or across a plurality of computers inany appropriate format. Indeed, some or all of development components140 may be local or remote without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure and store any type of appropriate data.

Server 102 also includes processor 125. Processor 125 executesinstructions and manipulates data to perform the operations of server102 such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a blade, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field-programmablegate array (FPGA). Although FIG. 1 illustrates a single processor 125 inserver 102, multiple processors 125 may be used according to particularneeds and reference to processor 125 is meant to include multipleprocessors 125 where applicable. In the illustrated embodiment,processor 125 executes at least component manager 130.

At a high level, the component manager 130 is software operable toprovide an interface to a plurality of solutions and some or all of theunderlying reusable components 140 that can be used for these solutions.More specifically, component manager 130 is any application, program,module, process, or other software that helps manage at least a portionof development components 140 and is operable to present certaincomponents 140 though interface 136 for viewing and potential use orpurchase by others. In one embodiment, component manager 130 mayrepresent the back-end processing of one access point where productgroups, partners, community members, or other authorized users canupload, search for, evaluate, download, rate/rank, receivecertification, view documentation, and such of services, lightweight orother composites, analytics dashboards, applications, and any othercomponents or solutions. More specifically, component manager 130 isoften operable to enable the creation and display of new relationshipsbetween components, make the particular component the center of itsuniverse (such as a business object), and enable newinformation/knowledge/guidance to be added. In certain embodiments,component manager 130 may implement further functionality includingbeing operable to: i) support versions, feedback, updates; ii) notifyclient-side applications such that they become aware of updates that areavailable; iii) present a “try before you buy” option; iv) tocontrol/charge for access and downloads; v) manage or presentmega-catalog plus the ability to have site- or customer-specificsub-catalogs; vi) provide a back-end to any of these catalogs forpublishers, managers, reviewers; vii) optimize consumption process viaanalysis of information collected; viii) certify users that can rate andsubmit content/feedback; and ix) manage permissions for users and allowusers to determine what access rights they have. Of course, some or allof this further functionality may not be present or enabled in certainimplementations of component manager 130. In certain cases, componentmanager 130 may be further operable to perform other types of processingor include links to such other functionality. For example, componentmanager 130 may implement, include, or be communicably coupled with abusiness application 132, as described below in reference to exampleFIG. 3. In another example, component manager 130 can be an applicationlayer that sits on top of a development environment. In yet anotherexample, component manager 130 can reside on top of any suitablerepository. In a further example, component manager 130 can have anintegration point into any suitable tool or be hosted within a softwaredevelopment or other network.

Regardless of the particular implementation, “software” may includesoftware, firmware, wired or programmed hardware, or any combinationthereof as appropriate. Indeed, component manager 130 may be written ordescribed in any appropriate computer language including C, C++, Java,J#, Visual Basic, assembler, Perl, any suitable version of 4GL, as wellas others. It will be understood that while component manager 130 isillustrated in FIG. 2 as including a number of sub-modules, componentmanager 130 may instead be a single multi-tasked module that implementsthe various features and functionality through various objects, methods,or other processes. Further, while illustrated as internal to server102, one or more processes associated with component manager 130 may bestored, referenced, or executed remotely. For example, a portion ofcomponent manager 130 may be a web service that is remotely called,while another portion of component manager 130 may be an interfaceobject bundled for processing at remote client 104. In another example,the majority of processes or modules may reside—or processing takeplace—on client 104. Moreover, component manager 130 may be a child orsub-module of another software module or enterprise application (notillustrated) without departing from the scope of this disclosure. At anyrate, component manager 130 is generally operable perform processingautomatically, which may indicate that the appropriate processing issubstantially performed by at least one component of system 100, such asparts of component manager 130 illustrated in FIG. 2. It should beunderstood that automatically further contemplates any suitableadministrator or other user interaction with component manager 130 orother components of system 100 without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure.

Server 102 may also include interface 117 for communicating with othercomputer systems, such as clients 104, over network 112 in aclient-server or other distributed environment. In certain embodiments,server 102 receives data from internal or external senders throughinterface 117 for storage in memory 120, for storage in DB 135, and/orprocessing by processor 125. Generally, interface 117 comprises logicencoded in software and/or hardware in a suitable combination andoperable to communicate with network 112. More specifically, interface117 may comprise software supporting one or more communicationsprotocols associated with communications network 112 or hardwareoperable to communicate physical signals.

Network 112 facilitates wireless or wireline communication betweencomputer server 102 and any other local or remote computer, such asclients 104. Network 112 may be all or a portion of an enterprise orsecured network. In another example, network 112 may be a VPN merelybetween server 102 and client 104 across wireline or wireless link. Suchan example wireless link may be via 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.20,WiMax, and many others. While illustrated as a single or continuousnetwork, network 112 may be logically divided into various sub-nets orvirtual networks without departing from the scope of this disclosure, solong as at least portion of network 112 may facilitate communicationsbetween server 102 and at least one client 104. For example, server 102may be communicably coupled to one or more “local” repositories throughone sub-net while communicably coupled to a particular client 104 or“remote” repositories through another. In other words, network 112encompasses any internal or external network, networks, sub-network, orcombination thereof operable to facilitate communications betweenvarious computing components in system 100. Network 112 may communicate,for example, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, Frame Relay frames,Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, voice, video, data, and othersuitable information between network addresses. Network 112 may includeone or more local area networks (LANs), radio access networks (RANs),metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or aportion of the global computer network known as the Internet, and/or anyother communication system or systems at one or more locations. Incertain embodiments, network 112 may be a secure network associated withthe enterprise and certain local or remote content developers 106 andbusinesses 108. As used in this disclosure, business 108 is any person,department, organization, small business, enterprise, or any otherentity that may use or request others to use system 100, namelycomponent manager 130, to download or purchase reusable components 140,at least some of which were created, modified, or otherwise uploaded bydeveloper 106 to content provider 101. As described above, developers106 also may be local or remote to business 108. Indeed, a particulardeveloper 106 may provide some content to component manager 130, whilereceiving or purchasing other content (at the same or different times)as business 108. As illustrated, business 108 and developer 106 eachtypically perform some processing (such as uploading or purchasingcontent) using a computer, such as client 104.

Client 104 is any computing device operable to connect or communicatewith server 102 or network 112 using any communication link. Forexample, client 104 is intended to encompass a personal computer, touchscreen terminal, workstation, network computer, kiosk, wireless dataport, smart phone, personal data assistant (PDA), one or more processorswithin these or other devices, or any other suitable processing deviceused by or for the benefit of business 108, vendor 106, content provider101, or some other user or entity. At a high level, each client 104includes or executes at least GUI 136 and comprises an electroniccomputing device operable to receive, transmit, process and store anyappropriate data associated with system 100. It will be understood thatthere may be any number of clients 104 communicably coupled to server102. Further, “client 104,” business,” “developer” and “user” may beused interchangeably as appropriate without departing from the scope ofthis disclosure. Moreover, for ease of illustration, each client 104 isdescribed in terms of being used by one user. But this disclosurecontemplates that many users may use one computer or that one user mayuse multiple computers. For example, client 104 may be a PDA operable towirelessly connect with external or unsecured network. In anotherexample, client 104 may comprise a laptop that includes an input device,such as a keypad, touch screen, mouse, or other device that can acceptinformation, and an output device that conveys information associatedwith the operation of server 102 or clients 104, including digital data,visual information, or GUI 136. Both the input device and output devicemay include fixed or removable storage media such as a magnetic computerdisk, CD-ROM, or other suitable media to both receive input from andprovide output to users of clients 104 through the display, namely theclient portion of GUI or application interface 136.

GUI 136 comprises a graphical user interface operable to allow the userof client 104 to interface with at least a portion of system 100 for anysuitable purpose, such as viewing application or other transaction data.Generally, GUI 136 provides the particular user with an efficient anduser-friendly presentation of data provided by or communicated withinsystem 100. For example, GUI 136 may present the user with thecomponents and information that is relevant to their task, increasereuse of such components, and facilitate a sizable developer communityaround those components. As shown in later figures, GUI 136 may comprisea plurality of customizable frames or views having interactive fields,pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user. For example, GUI 136is operable to display certain development components 140 in auser-friendly form based on the user context and the displayed data. Inanother example, GUI 136 is operable to display different levels andtypes of information involving development components 140 based on theidentified or supplied user role. GUI 136 may also present a pluralityof portals or dashboards. For example, GUI 136 may display a portal thatallows users to view, create, and manage historical and real-timereports including role-based reporting and such. Of course, such reportsmay be in any appropriate output format including PDF, HTML, andprintable text. Real-time dashboards often provide table and graphinformation on the current state of the data, which may be supplementedby development components 140. It should be understood that the termgraphical user interface may be used in the singular or in the plural todescribe one or more graphical user interfaces and each of the displaysof a particular graphical user interface. Indeed, reference to GUI 136may indicate a reference to the front-end or a component of componentmanager 130, as well as the particular interface accessible via client104, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. Therefore, GUI 136 contemplates any graphical userinterface, such as a generic web browser or touchscreen, that processesinformation in system 100 and efficiently presents the results to theuser. Server 102 can accept data from client 104 via the web browser(e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) and return theappropriate HTML or XML responses to the browser using network 112, suchas those illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed example of component manager 130implementing certain techniques and components in accordance with oneembodiment of system 100. Component manager 130 may be linked to,interfaced with, or otherwise communicably coupled with other modulesincluding business application 132 (described in more example detail inFIG. 3), third party component repository 220, software developmentnetwork 230, internal or third party development tools 240, and contentdelivery application 250. This coupling may be across enterprises orparties via any suitable channel. For example, component manager 130 maybe interfaced into a third party application at business 108 via amacro, web service, application programming interface (API), frame, orother suitable link, reference, or channel. Indeed, component manager130 may be concurrently interfaced into another third party applicationat business 108 via the same or another of the macro, web service, API,frame, and such. Indeed, component manager 130 may be executing on afirst platform, yet seamlessly referenced by an application ordevelopment tool 240 executing on a second platform. Component manager130 may be further seamlessly referenced by a second application ordevelopment tool 240 executing on a third platform. In another example,the lead page for the front end of component manager 130 may be linkedto or framed by software development network 230, user group, or otherwebsite.

At a high level, illustrated component manager 130 includes a number oflayers, namely a presentation or interface layer 201, a web serviceinterface 202, a process controller 203, component manager object layer204, and a data access layer 205. Component manager 130 may furtherinclude operational management and security layers as appropriate. Forexample, the security layer may allow a manager to establish or changeaccess for users, groups, roles, locations, internal/external (perhapsbased on logical network locations) to one or more individual or groupsof development components 140. Such access may include read, write,delete, publish, purchase, preview, and others or fewer as appropriate.This security capability may also be fully or partially offered tocustomers, developers, or other partners to (for example) help manageaccess to their development components 140. Process controller 203manages any number of sub-modules, process, or objects including itemgeneration, component purchasing, relations generation, item searching,and component publishing. Each of the processes creates, utilizes, orotherwise manages one, some, or all of the content manager objects.These objects may include ordering, billing, search object, softwaresolutions bag, publishing object, relations, and content delivery. Forexample, the ordering or billing objects may interface with an internalor outside business application, such as 132, to facilitate the purchaseor licensing of components 140 by the requesting user. The search objectmay include search parameters, user identification for filtering, orother data to help enable user friendly searches, role-based searches,usage-based searches, or others. The software solutions bag objectpackages, groups, bundles, or otherwise collects reusable components140, perhaps with its accompanying information such as metadata,relationships, and such. The software solutions bag may be accessibleacross internal or third party applications and be independent ofparticular tools or compilers. Moreover, this bag may be associated witha project team or business 108 instead of just one lone user. In thisway, the bag can by partially populated by a first user and completed bya second. Indeed, this bag may be associated with a particular user, butbe accessed by the user's manager or other project members based onsecurity settings. For example, the first user may create or change thebag and then email the bag (or a pointer thereto) to the second user. Inanother example, the first user may access the bag via a firstapplication (such as a development tool), while the second user mayaccess the bag via a second application (such as a sales or marketingcenter). It will be understood that while termed as a software solutionsbag, it may be any object considered any logical or software implementedbag, basket, cart, or other container data structure. Moreover, thisexample project team may represent a quality assurance group, anorganization of similar roles (such as developers), a standards group, adepartment (such as research and development, IT, business assurance, ormarketing), or any other logical or physical organization of users.Occasionally, membership in this team may be authenticated prior toallowing other members to view or manage the bag. The publish object andrelations object may help component manager 130 manage the publicationand interrelationships of components 140. Further, content deliveryobject may encapsulate the purchased or requested (for consumption ortrial) components 140 for efficient delivery to business 108, perhapseven to the appropriate development tool 240 to speed reuse. Forexample, one member of the “project team” may drop this softwaresolutions bag into a storyboard or other shared environment for viewingand potential manipulation by other members of the “project team.” Inanother similar example, this software solutions bag may beautomatically linked or presented to the shared environment uponauthentication of or access by a particular user. More specifically,this storyboard may be an interface that the user can access for portalcontent development and is used to draw and compose model diagrams usinga simple and intuitive visual notation.

The data access layer may implement several interfaces to data or datarepositories including a search or query interface and a componentmanager repository interface. In this example, the search interface mayutilize a quick search capability (or third party search portal) toselect or collect components 140 stored in local repositories or thirdparty repository 220. The component manager repository interface mayallow component manager 130 to store information about users, businesses108, content developers 106, or any other suitable party. Thisinformation may include search history, account balances, user orbusiness profiles, user group list, instances of the component managerobjects, security profiles or login/registration information, licensesor contracts, and others. For example, the user profile may include someor all of search history, purchase history, user role, business type,and existing software (whether licensed to his associated business 108or installed on his machine). Such information may be used to supplementor refine search results selected based on the user's search criteria.

It will be understood that while this example describes oneconfiguration of component manager 130, it may instead be a standaloneor (relatively) simple software program integrated with otherdistributed modules or functionality. Moreover, component manager 130may locally include or be remotely linked with some or all of theillustrated components, as well as others not illustrated.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example hosting infrastructure implementingvarious processes and modules in accordance with one embodiment of thesystem of FIG. 1. Of course, while described as a hosted solution, anysimilar internal or third party implementation may suffice and be withinthe scope this disclosure. Returning to the illustration, componentmanager 130 is communicably coupled with a business application 132.Business application 132 may be considered any business software orsolution that is capable of interacting or integrating with local andthird party modules 134 to provide the user with some purchasing,inventory, billing, or other business processing. More specifically, anexample application 132 may be a computer application for performing anysuitable business process by implementing or executing a plurality ofsteps. This example application 132 may be a composite application, oran application built on other applications, that includes an objectaccess layer (OAL) and a service layer. In this example, application 132may execute or provide a number of application services, such ascustomer relationship management (CRM) systems, human resourcesmanagement (HRM) systems, financial management (FM) systems, projectmanagement (PM) systems, knowledge management (KM) systems, e-commercecompatibly and functionality, and electronic file and mail systems. Suchan object access layer is operable to exchange data with a plurality ofenterprise base systems and to present the data to a compositeapplication through a uniform interface. The example service layer isoperable to provide services to the composite application. These layersmay help the composite application to orchestrate a business process insynchronization with other existing processes (e.g., native processes ofenterprise base systems) and leverage existing investments in the ITplatform. Further, composite application 132 may run on a heterogeneousIT platform. In doing so, composite application may be cross-functionalin that it may drive business processes across different applications,technologies, and organizations. Accordingly, composite application 132may drive end-to-end business processes across heterogeneous systems orsub-systems. Application 132 may also include or be coupled with apersistence layer and one or more application system connectors. Suchapplication system connectors enable data exchange and integration withenterprise sub-systems and may include an Enterprise Connector (EC)interface, an Internet Communication Manager/Internet CommunicationFramework (ICM/ICF) interface, an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)interface, and/or other interfaces that provide Remote Function Call(RFC) capability.

The example composite application portions may be implemented asEnterprise Java Beans (EJBs) or the design-time components may have theability to generate run-time implementations into different platforms,such as J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition), ABAP (AdvancedBusiness Application Programming) objects, or Microsoft's .NET. But itwill be understood that while this example describes a compositeapplication 132, it may instead be a standalone or (relatively) simplesoftware program integrated with other hosted modules or functionality.

FIGS. 4A-K illustrate example graphical user interfaces (GUIs 136 a-krespectively) of component manager 130 for processing user contexts asdescribed in method 600. Put another way, GUI 136 provides a front-endfor local or distributed component manager 130, which may becollectively termed the storefront. Interface 136 may be presented by aweb browser that displays appropriate network pages including HTML,Java, PHP (self-referential PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), ASP (ActiveServer Pages), or other pages populated, at least in part, by componentmanager 130. Each page may be hidden, minimized, or otherwise placed outof sight of the user, while still including data that could beconsidered “presented.” For example, GUI 136 presents a centralizedcommunity based location with taxonomies and intuitive searchcapabilities that will enable different segments of end users which arenot very technical to view applications' information that is relevant totheir task and suited to their skill set level. Particularly, some ofthese GUIs 136 provides a view of extensive metadata information oncomponents 140 including business cases, use cases, Key PerformanceIndicators (KPIs) or Key Success Indicators (KSIs), screenshots, demos,versions, experts on component usage, related components, configurationhints and tips), test cases and results, community feedbacks andratings. In another example GUI 136 may be operable to provide filteredviews of component information based on user's task or skill set andprovide the ability to see community's feedback and provide feedback toit. In this way, contextual information on select components can beviewed through the desired domain view/perspective. Further, thisintuitive way often helps the user search, find, and understand whatcomponent is more adequate for the business needs and can help thenon-technical user and developer alike. In some cases, GUI 136 may makethe search for such components more appealing for the often daily tasksof searching for the right item. Generally, these example interfaces 136a-k present various presentations of data throughout the search, asdescribed in subsequent flowcharts. Of course, these interfaces are forexample purposes only and component manager 130, or its components (suchas 132 and 134) may provide any suitable interface operable to displayat least transaction data 202 and one or more development components140—indeed, such displayed information may be communicated or presentedin any suitable format or layout.

Regardless of the particular hardware or software architecture used,component manager 130 is generally capable of managing at least aportion of development components 140, presenting certain components 140though interface 136 for viewing and potential use or purchase byothers, and executing various other related business processes andtechniques. Some of these processes, such as providing target secondarycontent and providing feedback on such content, are illustrated incertain flowcharts described below. The following descriptions of theflowcharts focus on the operation of component manager 130 in performingthe respective method. But system 100 contemplates using any appropriatecombination and arrangement of logical elements implementing some or allof the described functionality. For example, some of the processing orother techniques may be implemented by business application 132 or otherinvoked or referenced libraries or sub-modules not illustrated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 500 for processinguser registration into system 100. Generally, method 500 describes theregistration of a new user of component manager 130 and the variousprocesses involved in collected needed or optimal user and businessinformation. In certain cases, component manager 130 may automaticallyregister the user without presenting a wizard or implementing a similarmethod. In other cases, business 108 (or content developer 106) mayactivate or register component manager 130, without any subsequent userregistration. But returning to illustrated method 500, component manager130 presents an introduction page to a user at step 502. Thisintroduction page is typically presented based on a request from theclient 104, such as an HTTP request for a web page. The introduction maypresent information such as, for example, marketing text, featuredescriptions, a narrated video tour, testimonials from other business108 and content developer 106. Next, at step 504, component manager 130determines if the requesting user is already a registered user. Such adetermination may be made using a cookie, a user selection, or via othertechniques. If the user is already registered, then component manager130 grants presents the user with a sign-in page at step 506 and grantsthe user access to component manager 130 upon authentication at step508. The sign-in page may include or present a user name field that usesan email address and remember access within cookie if the user requestsand pre-populates the login field with user's address. The page alsotypically includes a password field that may be user-specified and hintavailable if the user forgets. This password may first be sent throughemail and be as complex as necessary to help assure security. Thesign-in page or the first page after authentication may also displayapplication news and insights such as new features, new services, newpartners, how-to tips, small-business advice, and others.

But if the user is not a registered user, then component manager 130 maythe display the general registration process that the new user willfollow at step 510. For example, such registration may include severalsteps to identify, retrieve, or otherwise collect information form theuser. This example information may include registration data (likeemail, name, company, etc.) and other information that can be used forcustomization if the user wishes (such as industry, role, address, andprofessional interest areas). In this example, component manager 130collects and verifies user information at step 512 using GUI 136. Thisinformation may include the registrant's first and last name, theregistrant's email address (typically used as username for sign in andprovides immediately-useful contact information), and the registrant'srole in business 104. This role may be selected from a limited, verygeneral list to help normalize roles across businesses 104. In certaincases, this list presented to the user after business data is gatheredso that it may be populated based on the business type or other businesscontext. Next, at step 514, component manager 130 collects and verifiessign-in information. This sign-in information may comprise theregistrant's password (perhaps entered twice to ensure accuracy), apassword hint, and the registrant's personal identification informationto enable support to verify user.

As illustrated, component manager 130 then collects and verifies thebusiness data to help provide some context and enable subsequent rollingregistration. For example, at step 516, component manager 130 collectsand verifies business information such as the business names (often bothofficial or how the business is known legally and public or how thebusiness is known to its customers), phone number, business address, webaddress, primary contact email address, or other useful business contactinformation. This collected information is then stored in a repository120 subsequent processing at step 518. In some cases, the user maycustomize his view of the storefront as shown at step 520. For example,the user can customize the views using a guided procedure. Thiscustomization can be based on the users preferences (results layouts,search criteria) and also using the registration data the user supplied(role, industry, address, etc.) or a combination of both. The user canalso save customizations in parallel (for instance 2 results filters).

Once the user and business information has been collected, thisdemographic information may be used to help determine more appropriatecomponents 140 or otherwise help searching. FIG. 6 is a flowchartillustrating an example method 600 for presenting a plurality ofdevelopment components, potentially from a variety of content developers106, using the system of FIG. 1. Method 600 begins at step 602, wherecomponent manager 130 receives a request for the storefront from a useron client 104. As described above, this user may be an end user,developer, manager, or other suitable user of client 104 for example.Indeed, component manager 130 may automatically determine the role ofthe requesting user in an effort to provide more tailored informationbased on this role. For example, a developer role may see more detailwhen he finds an artifact of interest, while a business analyst role maysee less technical detail with more business content. Moreover, the usercan conduct a search directly from the business's development tools viaan API or conduct a search using a web interface (or other softwaredevelopment network or ring) using any suitable client such as theexample PDAs, laptops, desktops, automobiles, and others. Next, whenappropriate, the requesting user is authenticated using any suitabletechnique at decisional step 604. For example, the user may log in usingcredentials created in the fashion described above. In another example,the user may use a VPN or other similar secured access.

Once component manager 130 provides access or otherwise returns therequested page at step 606, then the user searches for one or moredevelopment components 140 often of different types and vendors. In thisway, the search parameters at step 608 should allow a non-technical userto find the more appropriate components 140. The user should be able touse a customized search, in which the storefront filters those itemsthat are less relevant for that user on that particular search. Thisfiltering is normally based on combinations of the user's role,industry, line of business, IP Address, company size, and such. The usercan also use a customized search to save time, or create a search fromthe scratch. For example, interface 136 a (FIG. 4A) allows the user toadd tags or other metadata that help identify the desired components.Then, as shown in interfaces 136 b-f (FIGS. 4B-F), the user can addmanually input filters to the search. These filters may include industrytype (interface 136 b), solution type (interface 136 c), role type(interface 136 d), item type (interface 136 e), as well as many others.Indeed, based on previously provided or dynamically-determinedinformation, component manager 130 may automatically populate certain ofthese fields. After the user adds the appropriate filters and tags, hemay input or provide additional search words or terms to help narrow theresults as shown in interface 136 f. While shown as a certain searchengine, these searches may implement some or all (as well as other) ofthe following capabilities: i) text based search; ii) structured search(categories based search); iii) parameter based search (inputparameters, output parameters); and iv) dependency-based search(parent-child, brother-brother relations). In any of these ways, thesearch should allow technical and non-technical persons with differentskills and capabilities to conduct a professional, yet simple and userfriendly search of reusable development components 140. In some cases,component manager 130 may store the search or metadata associated withthe search to help tailor subsequent searches.

Based on these parameters (and any other determined context, user orbusiness information, or other data), content manger then locates,selects, or identifies any—if any—appropriate development components 140at step 610. As necessary, component manager 130 may identify theparticular repository storing each selected component and request it asneeded. For example, many of the identified items may be stored withincontent provider 101. But, in this example, others may be located acrossnetwork 112 at various entities, such as content developer 106, andstorage locations. As described above, component manager 130 may filterthese results based on the input filters or dynamically-determinedcriteria (such as account balance, company size, contractualconditions). Moreover, component manager 130 may further filter orsupplement the results based on the user's prior searches, the core ofwhich may have been saved to the appropriate repository. For example,component manager 130 suggests additional component 140 based onhistoric usage, analysis of models and relationships between components,and such. In another example, component manager 130 may prioritize theseresults based on usage metrics including most searched items, mostpurchased components 140, composite opportunities, supply and demandcurves, contractual obligations (such as prioritized placement), orother criteria.

Next, at step 612, the user gets the search's results as shown ininterface 136 g (FIG. 4G). More specifically, after conducting thesearch, the user normally gets a clear, easy to understand list of thedifferent items that matched that search. Simply, the user should beable to find the appropriate items from that list, if any. The resultsmay allow the user to view the metadata or accompanying information tounderstand the component's business scenarios, look and feel, as well asbasic technical requirements or recommendations. Such a view may besimilar to that illustrated as interface 136 h (FIG. 4H). In thisexample, a screen shot is present along with a name, unique identifier,business context, industry type, author or other content developer 106,general description or abstract, and features and details. In somesituations, component manager 130 may provide the user with the legal orlicensing setting of consumption of those components. Also, the searchresults may include the community rating and reviews regarding aspecific component 140 and different layouts of the result list, eachresult displaying information with different look and feel. In somecases, the search results may also display “big name” customers or casehistories for appropriate components 140. Further, the results may alsobe sorted, ranked, or made conspicuous (such as bolded) based on apreferred provider or application indication, contractual obligations,or any other criteria. At this point, the user can also refine thecurrent search, by conducting another search on the items that arepresented in the result list.

In some cases, the user may be allowed to interact with some of thecomponents 140 in order to help him determine whether the applicationmeets his expectations at step 614. For example, the user can “play”with the application in a runtime system with dummy data (“sandbox”)without being bothered with installation and configuration as shown ininterface 136 k (FIG. 4K). This dummy data may be supplied by contentprovider 101 or developer 106 or the user can add his own data (if he isgranted write abilities). This data can be erased, reinitialized, orotherwise reset when the customer logs off. In another example,component 130 may provide demos with screen shots and audio. In yetanother example, the user may download the component 140 for trial andtry to work with it in his daily environment within business 108. Afterexamining the different items in the result list, the user may selectone or more items from the list at step 616. More specifically, the usercan add those selected items to software solutions bag as shown ininterface 136 i (FIG. 4I). The user can have components for differentpurposes or solutions in one bag. Moreover, the solutions bag may beuser-independent. Put another way, the bag may be associated with theuser, a project team, or business 108. Further, the software solutionsbag may be interfaced into a variety of different applications. Forexample, the user may access his associated bag (or bags) via adevelopment tool interface, a web browser, or any other suitableapplication. At this point, the user may also add notes, remarks, orother metadata for selected components 140. In this way, the user cansave the most appropriate items for further investigation of thoseitems, downloading or purchasing them, showing or forwarding them to acolleague, or exiting component manager 130, while allowing the user toget easily return, with as little time and effort as possible. In thisway, the aggregated data or components of the bag may allow for easydata access and retrieval.

In certain embodiments, the content provider 101 may bill the user forsome or all of the selected components at step 618. The billing amountmay be a “finder's fee,” an access fee, a search fee, a component cost,or any other suitable cost determined by the user, the business 108,and/or the component 140. Sometimes this billing amount may be computedby component manager 130 and then communicated to the billingapplication, sub-module, or outside data processing service forsubsequent processing. Then, using an EFT process, credit card, businessaccount, or other payment or arranged payment method, content provider101 receives payment (or approved promise of payment) for the invoicedcomponents 140. Component manager 130 then allows these components to bedownloaded by, copied by, or otherwise provided to the requesting useror business 108 at step 622. Of course, if there is no fee or expectedbilling for the particular selected component, then it may beimmediately provided to the user. In fact, if there are no selectedcomponents 140 that are associated with a cost, then component manager130 may automatically skip the billing and payment steps. If the userdesires, he may supply feedback and contribute for the community, atstep 624, using any forums or modules that help place views, askquestions, and give advice regarding specific applications, components,or enterprise knowledge. This feedback could include notes, ratings, orother comments on the quality of a reusable component. Typically, anyregistered or authenticated user can take an active part in the forumsor execute the feedback functionality. But this feedback could beautomatically or manually analyzed—and subsequently filtered oremphasized—based on quality, word choice, performance evaluation of thefeedback provider (developer), coding efficiency, role, and such. Insome situations, the end user may be encouraged or even required by thecontent provider 101 to take an active role in the community in order toincrease the value it offers to its other members.

FIGS. 7A-B are flowcharts illustrating example methods 700 and 750,respectively, for processing user customizations and requests usingsystem. In some circumstances, these customizations may be made todevelopment components 140 found or selected using a technique similarto that in method 600. Generally, method 700 describes a technique forpresenting an optimized customization process to the consumer and method750 involves a technique for processing a customization request fromsuch a consumer. Method 700 begins at step 702, where the user hasidentified a particular development component 140. Based on thisidentification, component manager 130 identifies one or more consultantsthat are capable, available, or otherwise associated with thisparticular component at step 704. These consultants may be internalemployees or consultants to content provider 101, an agent of the sameor other content developer 106, or employee of some other third party(as well as an individual). For example, component manager 130 mayidentify consultants that are qualified or certified in the particularindustry. In another example, component manager 130 may select aconsulting company based on contractual agreements for the componenttypes. In a further example, component manager 130 may selectconsultants based on rates, geography, availability, group orprofessional memberships, feedback or rating, and/or any other suitablecriteria (including no selection criteria). Once the list of appropriateconsultants has been gathered, it may be prioritized according to theselection criteria or other criteria (such as screen resolution of theuser) at step 706. At least a portion of this prioritized list is thenpresented to the user at step 708. Occasionally, this list may bepresented to the user along with the metadata associated with component140 in interface 136 h. If the user makes a selection of the one theconsultants at step 710, then system 100 may automatically communicate anotification of such a selection at step 712. For example, componentmanager 130 may send an email, an automatically generated letter, anagreement, a statement of work, or any other suitable notice. In thisdescribed situation, the consultant is then free to contact the user torequest additional information, provide deliverables, or for any otherreason using any suitable communication channel, including thestorefront community.

Turning to FIG. 7B, example method 750 begins with the searching userrequesting a customization to a particular component 140 at step 752.For example, the user would be able to provide feedback directly on theuser interface that will help the developer or consultant to adapt andconfigure the component. This feedback could be the addition of metadatato the search page, tagging during the “sandbox” demonstration, an emailindicating the requested changes, or any other suitable communication.More specifically, method 750 may involve graphically layering userrequests on top of the application he is viewing. This often helps theuser communicate more effectively with the implementer (business analystor developer) that will manage or make the changes. In this way, contentprovider 101 could help enable the end user to provide feedback in thecontext of changes he desires. For example, the user could be previewingthe selected component 140 via first graphical layer and taggingquestions, adaptations, or other customization requests via a secondgraphical layer. In this example, the users can create support messagesor other tags directly in the application in which they are working. Inanother example, this multi-layered interface may represent amodel-driven solution that allows simple drag-and-drop techniques torequest or develop pattern-based or freestyle user interfaces and definethe flow of data between them. These tags may be implemented using anysuitable graphical element including comments, “pin ups,” highlights,drop boxes, frames, and many others. Moreover, this multi-layeredinterface may help facilitate a collaborative environment. Thisintegrated, real-time collaboration might allow users to work togetherefficiently regardless of where they are located, as well as enablepowerful communication that crosses organizational boundaries whileenforcing security requirements. In some circumstances, method 750 maybe at least partially implemented an end user feedback system or othersimilar application. At step 754, the component manager 130 maydetermine if there is an existing Software Licensing Agreement (SLA)involving the component 140 or another agreement, perhaps between therequesting user (or his business 108) and content provider 101. Thisdetermination may be performed by querying an internal database storingdata on the extent and type of license agreements and/or by requestinginformation from an external entity such as a database of a particularsoftware company. If there is an existing agreement, then the inputgenerated by the user may serve as an appendix to such an agreement. Inother words, component manager 130 generates an appendix based on thereceived request at step 756. Next, at step 758, this appendix is thenpresented to the requesting user (or some other person with signingauthority for the user or business 108). If the appendix was notapproved at decisional step 760, then that is often the end of thiscustomization and an error message may be sent to the user at step 762.But, in some cases, the parties may negotiate changes to the disputedportions, and processing may resume at this point. Once the appendix isapproved, the appendix is electronically or physically added (orappended) to the existing agreement at 764.

After the licensing issues (if any) are handled, then component manager130 may first determine if this customization is an open bid atdecisional step 766. For example, the user may place an indicator on theuser interface involving the customization and request that interestedconsultants (perhaps within preset criteria) contact him directly withbids. In another example, the bidding processing may occur within thestorefront framework. If this is an open bid, then component manager 130may automatically send emails or other transmissions for bids at step768. Otherwise at step 770, the user's customization request is sent toan individual consultant, who may have been selected according theprocesses similar to those described in method 700.

FIGS. 8A-B are flowcharts illustrating example methods 800 and 850,respectively, for publishing components into the system of FIG. 1.Generally, method 800 is directed towards publishing a particulardeveloped component 140, while method 850 describes an examplewalkthrough for supplying the associated metadata for theto-be-published component 140. These example techniques could help therespective community easily upload content into the appropriate logicallocation. Put another way, these methods may implement an automatedworkflow that will not only route the uploaded or published content sothat it can be certified, but can potentially also package and transportthe content. Method 800 begins at step 802, where a component publishingor upload request is sent from a user at any client 104. In certainembodiments, this request (or the following verification step) mayfollow procedures similar to that described in FIG. 8B. For example, theuser can request to add or edit an item using a guided procedure. Thisguided procedure helps specify the associated items, texts, images, testversion, and other metadata. Also, the user can specify what user groupswould be able to see this requested item. Further, the user may specifya cost for the component 140. In another example, the authorized usermay directly upload the content to the particular repository or page.Next, at step 804, the request is verified. For example, the componentmanager 130 may ensure that certain required information is suppliedwith the request (or otherwise capable of identification). In anotherexample, the system may ensure that the user has the security privilegesto post or publish content to the storefront. In a further example,component manager 130 may compare the type of component with therequested cost. If the cost is outside certain parameters, then therequest may be rejected or automatically modified.

Once the request is verified, component manager 130 may present apreview of the development component to the user at step 806. Morespecifically, the user may see a preview of how the component 140 wouldlook in the catalog. For example, the user can test the item in the sameway it will be supported in the catalog and can supply dummy data ormodify dummy data defaulted based on the component type. The user canthen edit the publication request and its related content or metadata inthe preview mode at step 808. After the request is finalized, then theuser may indicate that he approves the publication at step 810. Whenappropriate, the user can specify a requested date for publishing theitem and an expiration date. If the user supplies a publication date (asshown at decisional step 814), then component will not normally bepublished until such a date is reached (as shown at decisional step816). In short, once appropriate, the development component is approvedby the requester and published at step 818 and made available for otherusers and businesses to download, purchase, or otherwise review. In somesituations, a storefront administrator may approve publication requestsprior to actual publication or distribution. For example, theadministrator may access a secure interface (separate from or part ofthe storefront) to see certain pending requests, edit the content, andapprove or deny them. Moreover, the administrator can inform therequestor about an item's approval or ask for further information inorder to finish the process. This approval process may be automaticallyinitiated according to the cost, contractual obligations, the developer,the number of customizations or bug fixes, or the degree of changesbetween versions.

Component manager 130 may automatically select the appropriaterepository to store the published component based on any suitablecriteria or load-balancing algorithm. For example, a first component 140may be stored in a first repository because of the component type orgeography, a second component 140 may be stored in a second repositorybecause the first repository is full or experiencing reducedperformance, and a third component 140 may be stored in the secondrepository, but in a different table, because of the component'sassociated platform or module type (object, source, etc.). Of course,these are for example purposes only and each component 140 may be storedin the appropriate automatically or manually determined repository. In afurther example, component manager 130 may automatically determine thatthe particular component 140 (or its metadata) has changed at the remotesite and automatically update the storefront, as well as potentiallypropagate the changes to the appropriate customers. For example,component manager 130 may determine that the price, contact information,associated consultant list, or other information has been changed andautomatically update the catalog based on the identified changes.

Example method 850 begins at step 852, where component manager 130initializes a walkthrough of the publication. The guided procedure mightbe designed to help influence the content type, the publisher, who thetarget audience is, and so forth. For example, the first step of thewalkthrough may be receiving the purported component type such as moduleof composite application, interactive view, dashboard, and many othersat step 854. Part of this process may include verifying that the usermade the correct choice. In the event that the user or component manager130 can not determine a proper component type, the to-be-publishedcomponent 140 may be assigned an item type of “other,” “unknown,” or “tobe determined.” Next, at step 856, the user may identify any accompanyitems for the to-be-published-component 140. For example, the accompanymay be required, optional, recommended, or catalog-specific elements andmay include objects, other published or concurrently to-be-publishedcomponents 140, text, screenshots or other images, metadata, versioning,and many others. The guided procedure then allows the user, perhapsusing a predefined list, to specify what user groups would be able tosee this component 140. Based on these selections (if any at decisionalstep 858), the user can then specify different “look and feel” flavorsfor each or a group of different user groups at step 860. After this(and other not illustrated) metadata is collected, then the metadata isattached, linked, incorporated into, or otherwise associated with thecomponent 140 for use during the publication process at step 862.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 900 for versioningcomponents imported, loaded, or otherwise published into the system ofFIG. 1. For example, method 900 to may be used to help implement versioncontrol, version updates, and life cycle management that help the usersearch and consume components 140 using the storefront. Illustratedmethod 900 beings at step 902, where a component 140 (or its metadata)is received for publishing. For example, the component may be publishedaccording to procedures to those described above as methods 800 and 850.Next, at step 904, component manager 130 identifies the version of theuploaded component 140. This version identification may occur through aninteractive process presented to the user, manual input by the user, orthrough an automatic versioning procedure implemented by componentmanager 130. Sometimes, component manager 130 may automatically identifyprior versions of the particular component 140 that are stored in one ofthe repositories as shown at decisional step 906.

If there are any prior versions, then component manager 130 may computeor otherwise determine a delta (or difference set) between the latestpublished version in the repositories and the current one beingprocessed at step 908. This dynamically determined delta may be analyzedby the user or a consultant of content provider 101 to help add featuresor other metadata to the product description in the catalog. Further,this delta may be automatically processed and the results included in adrill-down of the current version when it is published, similar to a“red-line.” However accomplished, this newly discovered or identifiedversion metadata is associated with the component at step 910. Then,using any suitable technique, this new version (which may be the initialversion) is published to the appropriate repository at step 912. Oncethe component 140 is published, or approved for publication, thencomponent manager 130 may determine if any content developers 106,business 108, consultants, or other users are to be notified of the newversion as shown decisional step 914. If so, then component manager 130(or some other messaging system) may automatically transmit such anotification to authorized users. For example, component manager 130 maygenerate a user-specific email that describes the new version, thedelta, the release or publication date, the location, the cost or fees,or any other information that may be of use to the recipient. Whiledescribed above in terms of modifications to source or object code, incertain cases the customization may merely include an update to othermetadata (beyond version information) or to the testing or recommendeddata.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 1000 for managingmetrics associated with the development components 140 presented,selected, or otherwise managed in system 100. At high level, method 1000involves the receipt, retrieval, or other capture of metrics to furtherenhance or manage the storefront. Example method 1000 begins at step1002, where component manager 130 monitors storefront activity. Thisactivity may include procedural, technical, financial, or any othersuitable activity. For example, component manager 130 may track customeractivity including supplied search parameters, search results, customerfeedback, consultants requested or used, response time by the requesteddeveloper or consultant, component returns or complaints, customizationor adaptation requests, customer regions and industry types, roles, andsuch. In another example, component manager 130 may examine thetechnical aspects of the storefront experience including server orrepository response time, bandwidth allocation and utilization, computeror repository uptime, security breaches or questionable activity, andothers. In a further example, component manager 130 may monitor thepopularity of particular components 140, cost changes, payment failures,credit score or Dun & Bradstreet rating of the customer or his business,and such.

At any point (whether concurrently or afterwards), component manager 130then receives, retrieves, or otherwise captures metrics describing suchactivity at step 1004. These metrics may be statistics, objects, or anyother information that helps system 100 monitor the actual activity. Forexample, the metrics may first comprise raw data that is then normalizedfor easier analysis, storage, or other processing. Next, at step 1006,component manager 130 aggregates the metrics as appropriate. In thiscase, the metrics may be bundled into metric types so that an overallsnapshot of the storefront can be determined for that particular levelof granularity. For example, the technical metrics may be collected suchthat the system or network administrator can get a view of the systemstatus. In a more specific example, these technical metrics may becollected or divided into sub-categories such as network status,database or repository status, and so forth. As appropriate, some or allof the metrics may be used to update the storefront interface (or themetadata associated with certain components 140), as shown at step 1008,or any other suitable logic of system 100. This update may include newrankings, rerouting data transfers, updating or resorting consultants,update a marketing page of “big name” customers, and many others.

After the metrics have been captured and optionally aggregated, themetrics may be individually or collectively compared to some dynamic orpredetermined threshold at step 1010. Such thresholds may be set by anadministrator, a customer, component manager 130, and other appropriateusers or modules. If a metric violates a threshold (such as fallingbeneath or exceeding the relevant threshold) as shown by decisional step1012, then an administrator (or customer or other user) mayautomatically be notified, such as via email or other messaging at step1014. Regardless of the subsequent processing, the captured metrics areoften presented to authorized users via a metrics interface. Of course,the metrics interface may not be separate from the storefront, but mayinstead be a secured frame (or other object such as a popup) embedded inthe storefront interface. From this metrics interface, the user mayperform or request any appropriate processing of the metrics. Forexample, the user may request that daily or weekly status reports begenerated or some other report be generated “on the fly” as shown atstep 1016. Any report may also be automatically transmitted toappropriate recipients via any communications channel at step 1018. Inanother example, the user may also use the metrics interface to querythe metrics. In this case, component manager 130 may automaticallyretrieve or summarize the search results and present them to the user atstep 1020. In yet another example, component manager 130 may determinetrends based on regions, countries, industry types, role types,customers, and such using these metrics. As shown at step 1022, thesetrends may be determined based on user input or criteria that areprovided via the metrics interface. Of course, these uses are forexample purposes only and the user or system 100 may utilize the metricsas appropriate including monitoring intellectual property compliance,billing customers or partners, manage or enhance a sales or marketingeffort, and so forth.

The preceding flowchart and accompanying description illustrateexemplary methods 500-1000. System 100 contemplates using orimplementing any suitable technique for performing these and othertasks. It will be understood that these methods are for illustrationpurposes only and that the described or similar techniques may beperformed at any appropriate time, including concurrently, individually,or in combination. For example, the walkthrough procedure of method 850may be incorporated into the publication procedures of method 800.Indeed, the auto-versioning techniques of method 900 may be used tosupplement the publication process. In another example, the storefrontinterface may be dynamically updated as each metric is captured oranalyzed within method 1000 as appropriate. In addition, many of thesteps in this flowchart may take place simultaneously and/or indifferent orders than as shown. Moreover, system 100 may use methodswith additional steps, fewer steps, and/or different steps, so long asthe methods remain appropriate. For example, if there are a relativelylarge amount of identified development components 140, such that theidentified components 140 may not fit on the user's screen, thencomponent manager 130 may sort or rank the development components 140 toidentify a subset to be displayed. In another example, component manager130 may not compare some of the captured metrics, such as searchparameters, to thresholds when not appropriate.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certainembodiments and generally associated methods, alterations andpermutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. For example, certain embodiments of system 100 maybe a standalone, but networked, client that retrieves local information,identifies the context of the local user, and provides presentationelements associated with remote objects, applications, or other dataaccessible via the network. Accordingly, the above description ofexample embodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Otherchanges, substitutions, and alterations are also possible withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

1. A method for managing reusable development components comprising:providing a catalog of a plurality of development components to a user,the cataloged development components comprising at least a firstdevelopment component of a first type and a second development componentof a second type; and generating a software solutions bag based on auser selection of at least one of the cataloged development components.2. The method of claim 1, the software solutions bag associated with aproject team of the user and the method further comprising presentingthe software solutions bag to a second user upon authentication ofmembership in the project team.
 3. The method of claim 1, the usercomprising a remote user and the method further comprising receiving theselection from the user via a third party application.
 4. The method ofclaim 3 further comprising transmitting the software solutions bag to asecond third party application.
 5. The method of claim 4, the softwaresolutions bag logically linked with the first third party applicationvia a first channel and logically linked with the second third partyapplication via a second channel.
 6. The method of claim 5, the firstchannel comprising an application programming interface and the secondchannel comprising a web service.
 7. The method of claim 1, the softwaresolutions bag logically storing the selected components and metadataassociated with each component.
 8. Software for managing reusabledevelopment components comprising computer readable instructionsoperable to: provide a catalog of a plurality of development componentsto a user, the cataloged development components comprising at least afirst development component of a first type and a second developmentcomponent of a second type; and instantiate a software solutions objectbased on a user selection of at least one of the cataloged developmentcomponents.
 9. The software of claim 8, the software solutions objectassociated with a project team of the user and the software furtheroperable to present parameters of the software solutions object to asecond user upon authentication of membership in the project team. 10.The software of claim 8, the user comprising a remote user and thesoftware further operable to receive the selection from the user via athird party application.
 11. The software of claim 10 further operableto transmit the software solutions object to a second third partyapplication.
 12. The software of claim 11, the software solutions objectlogically linked with the first third party application via a firstchannel and logically linked with the second third party application viaa second channel.
 13. The software of claim 12, the first channelcomprising an application programming interface and the second channelcomprising a web service.
 14. The software of claim 8, the softwaresolutions object logically storing the selected components and metadataassociated with each component.